Day 27: Instagram

Hello! I hope you are enjoying your Summer! The Carpenter's have been busy and I've been trying to snap some pictures along the way. My new favorite tool is Instagram. It's so easy because all you need is your phone and the FREE app and you get results like this...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

{I know, they make some funny faces!}

 

Here are a couple I made from the previous picture...

 

 

 

I love to zoom in, blur the edges and then play around with the different filters. My favorite filters are Rise, Earlybird, Brannan and Inkwell. Which do you use?

Follow us: @530resale!

 

Bye for now,

 

Erica

 

 



Day 26: the paint display

Hello! I hope you are having a wonderful Summer day! It is supposed to rain buckets on us in Indiana today. So, if you are local, be careful out there!

 

I've had a lot of questions about our new paint display, so I thought I would share our process and do a few close ups on some of my favorite parts...

 

BEFORE

 

 

 

Here's the before, a-l-l 12 feet of it! It was a great find, but green. Really green. And, we all know it's not easy being green!

 

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AFTER

 

 

 

Here she is in the store (half of her anyway), all gussied up with miss mustard seed's milk paint and pillows and chalkboards. We painted her MMS kitchen scale over the existing green and then sanded so some wood and some of the old green comes through. One of my favorite things about milk paint is how easily you can let the history of a piece shine through!

 

 

 

The lower left corner of the big cabinet has an antique sewing storage bin with drawers and dividers that houses our sample size paints...

 

 

And the cubbies are perfect for all of the milk paint. We've held on to some of the old box packaging to add height here and there.

 

Our original display was an old wire bread shelf from a grocery store. We loved that one, but we are excited to feature the paint more prominently in the store!

 

Bye for now,

 

Erica

 

 

Day 25: a little craft-time

Hello! I hope you had a fantastic 4th of July! Popsicles and a parade for the Carpenter crew...

 

 

our neighborhood bike parade

 

 

Thanks to the Zionsville Police and Fire Departments for making this an extra fun (and LOUD) event every year!!

 

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Last week, the girls from Chickadelic Salvage tweeted a fun project from Pinterest courtesy of the Richmond Thrifter Blog and I was inspired.

 

I dug out the lamp base and picture frame...

 

 

got movin' with my Krylon Spray paint...

 

 

AND, now it's a table...

 

 

 

I will agree that it is not the sturdiest table ever, but it is sooooo cute!

 

Thanks for the inspiration, gals!

 

Bye for now,

 

Erica

 

 

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Day 24: Happy Father's Day!

Hello! What a beautiful start to a busy weekend in Zionsville...garden tours, the Relay for Life and CruZionsville will all be happening in our burg this weekend. And, Sunday is Father's Day! Yea, a day to celebrate the men in our lives! It is a fun day at the Carpenter household -- homemade cards and fun presents from my crew to their daddy.

 

 

 

 

Since I lost my dad a few years ago, it is a bittersweet day for me. We try to talk about him but the kid's memories are starting to fade somewhat. I try to remind them of all the things that made him their Pa: his larger-than-life personality, his love of travel, his generosity and his love for all of us.

 

 

 

I love this picture of him because this is how I remember him -- loud and demonstrative and doing something crazy (riding a camel in the Sahara?).

 

You may have heard or read that our store is named in honor of my dad. For most of his life, he lived and worked at mile marker 530 on the Ohio River. We even founded the business on his birthday (December 12th).

 

Enjoy your time with the dads and the kids this weekend! And, Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

 

Bye for now,

 

Erica

 

 

 



Day 23: It's been a long time!

Hello! Yes, it's been a while...like 6 weeks. Ooops. I got busy planning for two big events in our little 'ville and then the end of the school year hit us like a ton of bricks.

  

Here's what we've been up to...

 

On May 4th, the first Zionsville Flower and Herb Market came to Main Street:

 

 

It was so much fun and we can't wait for it to be a regular event!

 

Next came the annual Brick Street Market:

 

 

 

Outside the shop on Market Day...

 

 

The vendors on Main Street...

 

 

Thanks to everyone who stopped by that day!

 

 

And, in the midst of that, we had 2nd Grade States' Fair...

 

 

This is a horrible picture of a wonderful event! All of the second graders are assigned a state (my guy got my home state of Kentucky). They do a parade through the school and then have a fair in the gym.

 

We also had 4th grade famous Hoosier wax museum...

 

 

 

Here's our own Rod Woodson doing his presentation!

 

And, finally, the graduate...

 

 

 

Wow, it was a busy month!! Now just, 2.5 days of school left until vacation! Yea! Hope you are enjoying the late Spring as much as we are...

 

Bye for now,

 

Erica

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Day 22: the erica special

Hello! I've been MIA lately with Spring Break and getting back in the groove after Spring Break. 

 

 

 

But now, I'm back and I do solemnly swear to write more. I really, really do.

 

While I was relaxing in sunny Florida, the girls were busy in the store. One item they sold was this buffet...

 

 

We measured this piece for several people. People brought their husbands to see it. It was one of my faves! So many people asked about the finish, we gave it a name. It will now forever be known as the "Erica Special"! It is black with a rubbed antique gold and lovely (I guess if I created it and named it after myself, you know I like it).

 

Here's a close up...

 

 

...of a newly painted sofa table, Erica Special style.

 

Come in for a peek soon!!

 

Bye for now,

 

Erica

 

 



Day 21: what is the difference?

The question we are asked most: "What is the difference between milk paint and chalk paint?"

  

Let me say first that I have used what I think are the three most well-known brands of chalk paint: Annie Sloan, Cee Cee Caldwell and Maison Blanche. And, we carry Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint in the store.

 

  Milk Paint is more unpredictable than chalk paint. The results you get from milk paint depend a great deal on the finish on the piece you are painting and the look you hope to achieve (basically, if you use bonding agent or not).

 

no bonding agent

 

 

with bonding, sanded edges

Here's a great side-by-side comparison of Annie Sloan's Arles with dark wax and Miss Mustard Seed's Mustard Seed with Antiquing Wax...

chalk paint with dark wax

 

 

milk paint with antiquing wax

Pretty similar, don't you think?

I use both milk paint and chalk paint (and latex and craft paint, for that matter!). I use milk paint more because I like to have samples of all the colors in the Miss Mustard Seed line in the store. 

 Of the chalk paints, I like Annie Sloan for regular painting. I love Cee Cee Caldwells for stencils. You can do either a dry or wet distress and it looks old and worn. Maison Blanche is great to create different patterns and more specialty painting.

The next time someone asks, I guess I'll have an answer!!

Bye for now,

Erica